This Week In Radio Tech (TWiRT)

Streaming audio is bringing a whole new lexicon - geo-targeting, geo-fencing, interstitials, pre-rolls, adaptive bit-rates, video, and virtualization. Matt Kellogg - a guy with a solid radio background - joins us from StreamGuys to sort it all out.

Virtual Machines and Virtualization in general are becoming popular techniques in the IT world. Now, broadcasters are adopting virtualization for their automation systems. How does this work, and what are the pros and cons? Dub Irvin from WideOrbit joins us to explain.

SAS is well-known for high-reliability audio routing systems. SAS Co-founder, Al Salci, is here to talk about their early technology breakthroughs, as well as their audio mixing console designs. Plus, Al shares his thoughts on AES67, Livewire, and Dante.

The FCC is proposing to eliminate the Main Studio Rule. Sounds good to many, but what are the consequences? And FM translators are in the news again, with a window opening this summer for AM stations to apply. Larry Fuss is with us to explain what this means. And - as is often the case - you won’t believe where Chris Tobin is!

How does a top-shelf voice-over artist work on the road? He makes a “MacGyver studio”! Joe Cipriano joins us to talk mics, pre-amps, processing, and how voice-over work gets done today. Chris Tobin is here, too, from a hot transmitter room!

Canadians may be polite, but most don’t want you hacking their Internet-connected stuff. Jeff Welton from Nautel offers advice for IT security at the transmitter site, plus describes hand-on a 400 kW AM transmitter, and what tools to keep handy nowadays for solid-state transmitter maintenance.

It’s the last day of NAB 2017! Before it’s over, Chris Tobin and I are bringing you some of the best radio broadcast tech at the show. Simon Jackson with flow batteries at transmitter sites in Fiji, Telos Alliance CEO Frank Foti is here, Mark Persons is here, and so is Fritz Golman.

Behind the scenes, we’re on location at the Las Vegas Convention Center during setup for the NAB Show. Chris Tobin takes us on a tour of booths being set up, while Joe Talbot and Juan Punyed talk about why we get together every year in the desert.

Kennet Andhersån grew up in Sweden, and worked in Swedish radio stations. Now he’s building and consulting stations in Thailand, plus developing software for broadcasters. Get a new perspective on radio engineering as Kennet joins Chris Tobin and Kirk Harnack for This Week in Radio Tech.

John Bisset is here! He’s the guy who writes the “Workbench” column in Radio World. Always quick with great ideas for radio engineers, John joins us to talk about moving your satellite dish, preparing for the worst when that doesn’t work, and more tips from the master of the workbench!